STS-107 Commemorative T-shirt - Columbia Disaster

STS-107 Commemorative T-shirt - Columbia Disaster

White 100% cotton T-shirt with the Space Shuttle STS-107 crew photograph on the front. The T-shirt depicts all seven crew members alongside the mission patch and Columbia.

Columbia was tragically destroyed during re-entry on 1 February 2003. The entire crew lost their lives in the accident. Damage caused to the wing by a piece of insulation foam during launch allowed super-heated gas to penetrate the craft upon re-entry. Travelling at enormous speed the spacecraft broke apart under aerodynamic stress, with the crew killed as a result of their cabin de-pressurising.

The T-shirt depicts an American flag at half-mast in the background, suggesting that it was produced to commemorate the disaster. However, the T-shirt is reported to have been given as a gift by the Commander of STS-107, Rick Husband, at a pre-launch dinner shortly before the flight. It is possible that the half-mast American flag was included to reference the fact that this mission was scheduled to be Columbia’s last. This could also account for the date on the T-shirt corresponding to that of the disaster, as it might refer to the date that Columbia was due to retire. We may never know for sure.